Mystic Mountains

warned Tiger this would not be resolved so satisfactorily. Why the bloody hell had he touched her? Damn and blast his idiocy!

 
     
     
    Chapter Eighteen
     
    Isabella dressed, then bent to pull on her shoes. There was a dull ache in her temples and the bump on the back of her head throbbed a little, but apart from that she felt quite well. Outside. Inside, she felt she would die at any minute from the pain. Why couldn't the horse have done a good job of it and trampled her into the ground, so ending all her unhappiness?
    Folding the blanket, she bent to take her brush from her bundle. Coiling up her hair she glanced about. The room was more attractive by daylight with the sun streaming in to highlight the well-polished mahogany. There was no doubting Selena had a c omfortable home. The gowns Isabella had seen her in were beautiful and she knew from Thelma they were made by the seamstress who clothed the wives and daughters of the gentry.
    "Why, bless me, what you doing 'ere?" a girl of about sixteen asked as she bustled into the parlor. She had a cheeky grin, and a face full of freckles. Mousy hair was tucked beneath a mobcap, and a huge apron with a flounced edge covered her plain frock. "I never 'eard you arrive. I sleeps like a dead 'un, do I." She winked, and Isabella couldn't hold back a smile.
    "I was brought in last night by Lieutenant Moreton," Isabella explained.
    "Brought in by Mr. Gareth? Bless me, brought in from where?" she asked, eyes opened wide so she looked like a baby owl. "'E ain't in the 'abit of bringing along young ladies. 'E's that shy is 'e it's a wonder 'e manages to bring 'imself." She threw her head back and chuckled.
    "His horse knocked me down." Isabella shrugged. "It seems this was the only place he could think to bring me." She thought his actions strange too. Why hadn 't he taken her to the doctor's house or the hospital? But she should feel grateful he hadn't simply left her to be picked up by some rogue like the one who'd accosted her.
    "Aye, it would be." The maid 's head wagged knowingly. "So, how are you? Did you hurt your leg?" she asked when Isabella got up and walked to the window.
    "My leg?" Isabella peered down at her foot. "Oh no, I already had a limp. I bumped my head." Putting a couple of fingers to the bump, she winced.
    "Bumped yer 'ead, eh? I'm Katie, by the way, what's yer name? An' what were yer doing to get knocked down by an 'orse that time of night, then?"
    "I 'm Bella, Katie. Pleased to meet you." Isabella held out a hand and Katie shook it with gusto. Isabella wondered what to tell this girl. She decided to tell her the truth. What could she do anyway? The girl was Selena's servant.
    "I ran away," she confessed.
    Katie looked taken aback for a moment, then grinned. "Oh my, so where you gonna go now?"
    "I have no idea. Selena says I have the looks to be a . . ." She put her fingertips to her temple, pressing at the dull ache there. "The same as her," she finished.
    "A lady of the night, eh?" Katie lowered her voice. "She's right as far as the looks go. You be a beauty, an' that's a fact."
    "Who, me? I 'm as plain as a pikestaff."
    "Course you ain 't," Katie assured her. "You just need a bit of dressing up an' you'll 'ave all the swaggering young bloods chasing yer, an' that's a fact."
    "Don 't be daft. If I was as pretty as you say I am, then I'd be betrothed now to the man who . . ."
    "Man who bedded yer?" Katie asked gently. "Lord, but looks don 't 'ave naught to do with that. You a con?" Isabella nodded. "Well, if it was yer master, 'e'd take it as 'is due, now wouldn't 'e?"
    Isa bella grimaced faintly. His due? Ye gods, if Tiger Carstairs got his due, he'd be dead and buried now, the scurrilous devil.
    "I only wish I 'ad the looks." Katie sighed as she shook her head. "Why give a man what 'e should pay for, eh? If Mistress Drake promised to teach yer the rules, then I'd take 'er up on the offer. What other choices do us cons 'ave, eh? I think meself lucky I didn't end up with no son of a bastard who treats 'is women no better than animals. I gets clean clothes on me back an' a belly full every day. What more could a girl ask, eh?"
    "Love, perhaps? Don 't you want a husband and children one day, Katie?"
    "Love? Cripes, why should the likes of us expect such a fanciful thing? When I gets me ticket of leave I 'm gonna try an' get a job in the Guvner's 'ouse, working for 'is lady." She gave a great sigh. "Take me advice, Bella, let the madam help yer, an' you